HOLLAND, MI – After police found a note that appeared to detail her ex-boyfriend’s killing, Maryann Castorena told investigators it was only the outline of a book she planned to write.

Later, she told police it was a movie script based on an overheard conversation.

And then she changed that story, telling police that someone - likely Anthony Delagarza, who lived with the victim, Jose Patricio Hernandez – wrapped his hands around her neck and forced her to write the letter, Ottawa County sheriff’s detective Michael Tamminga testified at a probable cause hearing on Wednesday, June 25,

Before testimony began, Prosecutor Ronald Frantz said Delagarza, 19, had agreed to plead to second-degree murder and testify against Castorena, 40.

Delagarza would face up to life in prison, but would have the possibility of parole as part of the deal. If convicted of first-degree murder, he would be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Prosecutors say Castorena and Delagarza conspired to kill Hernandez, 38, so that she could collect $1.5 million in life insurance benefits.

The victim’s frozen body, covered in snow, was found near his running vehicle outside of Amberwood Apartments near Ottawa Beach Road and 152nd Avenue on a bitterly cold January night.

Castorena called police from Hernandez’s apartment to report that he was missing. His car was running, too.

Sheriff’s Deputy Larissa Jones said she checked on the running car, but did not see the victim’s body. She had just walked through the entrance of the apartment complex when she heard a woman scream. Hernandez’s sister had spotted her brother’s body under the snow.

“He was beyond help,” Jones testified.

An autopsy showed he died from blunt-force trauma to his head. He had been hit at least five times.

Castorena told Jones that she last saw Hernandez around 10 p.m. on Jan. 5. His body was found just after midnight on Jan. 7.

Castorena once lived with Hernandez, but married another man while she was in California. When she returned to Michigan, she did not tell Hernandez about her husband but stayed in contact with him. Her son also lived with Hernandez.

Greg Peterson, who works for Farm Bureau Insurance, said Castorena once worked at his Holland Township office.

He said Hernandez bought a $750,000 policy that named his niece as beneficiary before he added Castorena. He bought another $750,000 policy that named Castorena as the only beneficiary.

“He just said he wanted to make sure his friends were taken care of in case something happened to him,” Peterson testified.

The quarterly payment on the second policy was due on Jan. 15, just days before the killing occurred. Police say Castorena wanted Hernandez killed before the policy could lapse.

Tamminga, the detective, said Castorena repeatedly sought him out while she was locked up. She blamed Delagarza.